Packaging assembly and method

ABSTRACT

A package adapted to contain a hard copy consumable, the package comprising a protection element, the element being connected to the package and having a surface adapted to be removably connected to a portion of the consumable, such that the element is arranged to be removed from the portion of the consumable by the action of removing the consumable from the package.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to hardcopy consumables,particularly but not exclusively to inkjet printer cartridges, and toapparatus and methods for packaging and storing such consumables.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

As is well known in the art, conventional inkjet printers generallyemploy one or more inkjet printheads, which eject drops of ink onto apage or sheet of print media.

Such printheads generally form part of a cartridge that contains asupply of ink for use with the associated printheads. Such printheads orcartridges generally have a finite working life. In order to prolong theusable life of printers that employ these printheads or cartridges, theyare usually made to be replaceable.

In order to avoid blockages of ink that might occur in the ejectionnozzles and/or ink leaking out of the ink ejection nozzles ofreplacement printheads or print cartridges before it is installed in aprinter, an adhesive tape is bonded to the nozzles plate of theprinthead. In this manner, the nozzles of the printhead may betemporarily sealed. The tape also serves to protect the normally fragilenozzle plate from damage whilst it is being stored or transported.

Prior to installing the cartridge in a printer, a user must remove theprotective tape. For some users this can be a difficult procedure. Insome cases, users install cartridges in printers without first removingthe protective tape, either because they forget to do so, or becausethey do not appreciate that it should be removed prior to installation.If a cartridge is installed without the protective tape having firstbeen removed, the cartridge and/or the printer will not function and maybe damaged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided apackage adapted to contain a hard copy consumable, the packagecomprising a protection element, the element being connected to thepackage and having a surface adapted to be removably connected to aportion of the consumable, such that the element is arranged to beremoved from the portion of the consumable by the action of removing theconsumable from the package.

The present invention also extends to methods of manufacturing such apackage and a method of packaging a hardcopy consumable in such apackage. Further aspects of the invention will be apparent form theappended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same maybe carried into effect, there will now be described by way of exampleonly, specific embodiments, methods and processes according to thepresent invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional inkjet cartridge.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the snout of the cartridge illustrated inFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic, perspective view of a package according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 4 to 8 form a sequence of diagrams illustrating the removal of anink-jet cartridge from the package illustrated in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of theinvention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form apart hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specificexemplary embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. Theseembodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilledin the art to practice the invention. Other embodiments may be utilized,and logical, mechanical, and other changes may be made without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the present invention. The followingdetailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense,and the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appendedclaims.

FIG. 1 illustrates a typical, replaceable inkjet cartridge 2. Thecartridge has a body portion 4 in which an ink reservoir is contained.It also has a snout portion 6.

The cartridge also has a conventional inkjet printhead 8, which islocated in the region of the snout portion, and which can be seen inFIG. 2. FIG. 2 illustrates an enlarged side elevation view of the snoutportion 6, viewed along the line “X”, shown in FIG. 1. The printhead 8can be seen from side on in FIG. 2. For the sake of clarity, it has beenillustrated as standing proud of the snout portion 6 of the cartridge.

The printhead has a number of ink ejection nozzles (not shown), throughwhich ink drops may be selectively ejected in a known manner. The inkexits the nozzles from the printhead 8 through a surface known as anozzle plate, which is referenced 8 a in the figure.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the exterior of a package 10 accordingto one embodiment of the present invention. The package has, asillustrated in the figure: a top surface 10 a; a bottom surface 10 b; aleft hand end wall 10 c; a right hand end wall 10 d; a near side wall 10e; and, a far side wall 10 f. Thus, in this embodiment the package is agenerally box shaped. In other embodiments, the package may be of anyreasonable shape. The package 10 is suitably sized to accommodate anink-jet cartridge such as that illustrated in FIG. 2. In otherembodiments, however, the package may have any reasonable dimensions.The package 10 is also arranged to be closed, or sealed, once the inkjetcartridge is located within the package. This may be in a conventionalmanner. The exterior structure of the package, including the surfaces 10a-f may be made from any suitable material, such as paperboard,cardboard or plastic, or from a combination of such materials. Suchexterior structures are available from Kartoncraft™, 84-85 Lagan Road,Dublin Ind. Est., Dublin 11 and Smurfit Carton™, Tonlegee Road, Coolock,Dublin 5.

FIG. 4 a illustrates the package 10, with the top surface 10 a removedsuch that the interior of the package may be seen. As can be seen fromthe figure, an inkjet cartridge 2 is located within the package 10. Inpractice, a conventional locating structure may be present in the insideof the package 10 in order to locate the inkjet cartridge 2 stationaryin a desired position. However, for the purposes of clarity, this hasbeen omitted from the figure. The package also has a protective tapeassembly 12. The tape assembly in the present embodiment has threefunctional portions, 12 a, 12 b and 12 c. In the present embodiment, theportion 12 a is bonded to the interior surface of left hand end wall 10c, although in other embodiments it may be bonded to other suitablesurfaces. The portion 12 c is bonded to the exterior surface of thenozzle plate 8 a of the printhead. The portion 12 b joins the portions12 a and 12 c. This is more clearly illustrated in FIG. 4 b.

FIG. 4 b illustrates the package and cartridge assembly shown in FIG. 4a viewed along the lines Y-Y. In this figure, for the sake of clarity,the portions of the tape 12 a and 12 c are shown as being slightlyoffset from the surface to which they are bonded; 10 c and 8 a,respectively. In this figure, it can be seen that the portion 12 b ofthe tape, which joins the portions 12 a and 12 c, forms a loop that islocated substantially above the snout portion 6 of the cartridge 2.Furthermore, apart from being connected to the portions 12 a and 12 c ofthe tape, the portion 12 b of the tape is not attached to otherstructures in the present example.

The portion 12 c of the tape is bonded to the surface 8 a of theprinthead in a conventional releasable manner; that is to say that itmay be removed from the printhead by a force generally applied by auser. In the present example, it is arranged when bonded in position tosubstantially cover the nozzles orifices in the printhead to prevent inkleakage, to prevent ink ejection nozzles from becoming blocked, and toprotect the nozzle plate from mechanical damage. In the presentembodiment, the tape may be of the conventional type used for suchpurposes. Generally such tapes are manufactured from a rubber orplastics material, such as a PVC or PET material, and come pre-preparedwith a heat-activated adhesive present on the side of the tape that isto be bonded to the printhead. Thus, in the present example, the tapeportion 12 c is located in position, overlying the printhead, and heatis applied to the tape portion 12 c in order to bond it to theprinthead. It will be understood by the skilled reader, however, thatany suitable conventional adhesive may be used for this purpose.

The portion 12 a of the tape is bonded to the inner surface 10 c of thepackage in a conventional manner, such that the bond may be consideredto be relatively permanent. The skilled reader will appreciate, from thefollowing description, that when the tape is tensioned between thepackage and the cartridge, it is desirable that the tape remainsattached to the package, at the surface 10 c, and becomes detached fromsurface 8 a of the printhead. It will be understood that to achieve thisvarious factors may be considered to be important. These may include,for example: the materials that are to be bonded; the adhesive oradhesives used; and, the mechanical arrangement which is used to tensionthe tape. Thus, the materials used for the tape and the adhesives used,and indeed the package material that forms the internal surface 10 c maybe determined using conventional techniques according to particularoperational requirements.

In one embodiment, the three portions of the tape 12 a-c are made from acontinuous strip of a single material; i.e. each of the three portions12 a-c is made from the same material. In other embodiments, one or moreof the three portions of the tape may be made from materials that aredifferent from the materials used from the other portions.

In one exemplary embodiment, the portion 12 is made of two parts. Theportion 12 a is a paper based material, such as P/N 51641-80035,manufactured by York Labels™, 405 Willow Springs Lane, PO. Box 1309,York, Pa. 17405, US. The portions 12 b and 12 c are formed by a singlepart, which is a PVC based material, such as P/N: SPV 225PHP,manufactured by Nitto™, Eikelaarftraat 22, 3600 Genk, Belgium. Theadhesive used to bond the portion 12 a of the tape to the internalsurface 10 c of the package may be adhesive PHC/75900 manufactured byH.B.

Fuller™ Gmbh, D-21335, Lunenburg, Ander Roter Bleiche 2-3, Germany. Inthis embodiment, the package material that forms the internal surface 10c may be conventional paperboard. The portions of the tape 12 a and 12 bmay be joined together by any suitable conventional means, such as amechanical fastener or a heat treatment causing a bond to form betweenthe two portions.

Various methods may be used in order to assemble the cartridge, with thetape in place, in the packaging. In the present embodiment, however, thetape portion 12 a-c is first located on the cartridge, prior to thecartridge being inserted in the package. The tape portion is located onthe cartridge such that (a) the portion 12 c of the tape is correctlybonded over the surface 8 a of the printhead, and (b) so that theportion 12 a, pre-treated with adhesive, is correctly presented suchthat on inserting the cartridge into the package, it correctly adheresto the end wall 10 c of the package. It will be appreciated that theprocess of locating the tape portion on the cartridge may be carried outby hand or using an automated process. Similarly, the process ofinserting the cartridge, together with the correctly located tape, intothe package may be carried out by hand or using an automated process.

It will be understood by the skilled reader that in other embodiments ofthe invention, the tape portion may be formed together with at leastpart of the packaging; that is to say as a single part or piece, thusobviating the need for adhesive bonding of the tape to the packaging. Inother embodiments of the invention, the tape portion may be connected tothe packaging using conventional mechanical fixtures, such as clips;again obviating the need for adhesive bonding of the tape to thepackaging.

In the present embodiment, in order to remove the cartridge 2 from thepackage 10, the user firstly opens the package in a conventional manner.In the present example, the right hand end wall 10 d is removed, orunfolded. This may be facilitated by the presence of perforations anduser instructions, for example. The user then grips the portion of thecartridge 2, which is exposed by the removal or opening of the righthand end wall 10 d, and draws the cartridge 2 out of the package 10 inthe direction of the arrow “A”, shown in FIGS. 5 a and 5 b. FIGS. 5 aand 5 b show views corresponding to those of FIGS. 4 a and 4 b,respectively, with the cartridge 2 partially withdrawn from the package10. In FIGS. 5 a and 5 b, the cartridge 2 has only been withdrawn by anamount sufficient to take up the slack in the loop that was formed bythe portion 12 b of the tape. Thus, the portion 12 b of the tape issubstantially untensioned in the position shown in FIGS. 5 a and 5 b.Thus, it will be understood that the portion 12 c of the tape, at thispoint, remains fully bonded to the surface 8 a of the printhead.Similarly, the portion 12 a of the tape remains fully bonded to theinner surface the interior surface of left hand end wall 10 c of thepackage.

As the user continues to withdraw the cartridge 2 from of the package 10in the direction of the arrow “A”, the tension in the portion 12 b ofthe tape increases and the portion of the tape 12 c progressivelydebonds, and separates from the surface 8 a of the printhead. This isillustrated in FIG. 6, which illustrates a simplified partial view ofthe package and cartridge assembly shown in FIG. 5 b, but with thecartridge withdrawn to a greater extent. As can be seen from the figure,the portion 12 b of the tape is now tensioned and approximately half ofthe portion 12 c of the tape has debonded and separated from the surface8 a of the printhead. Thus, approximately half of the area of thesurface 8 a of the printhead is now exposed. FIG. 7 illustrates a viewsimilar to that of FIG. 6, in which the cartridge 2 has been furtherremoved from the package 10. At the illustrated position, the portion ofthe tape 12 c that is still bonded to the surface 8 a of the printheadis very small. At this position almost all of the surface 8 a of theprinthead is now exposed. When the user withdraws the cartridge 2further from the package 10, the final portion of the tape 12 c debondsfrom the surface 8 a of the printhead. The user then removes thecartridge 2 completely from the package 2. This position is illustratedin FIG. 8. As can be seen from the figure, the portion 12 a of the taperemains fully bonded to the inner surface 10 c of the package.Additionally, the other end of the tape 12 d, which was bonded to thesurface 8 a of the printhead, now lies loose within the package 2.

The user may now discard the package and use the cartridge. It will thusbe appreciated that the act of removing the cartridge from the package,according to the present embodiment, also serves to remove theprotective nozzle tape from the cartridge, rending the cartridgeimmediately ready for use.

It is noted that, although specific embodiments have been illustratedand described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skillin the art that any arrangement that is calculated to achieve the samepurpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. Forexample, in the above example, the tape portion allowed a certain degreeof movement, or withdrawal, of the cartridge before one end of the tapewas caused to debond from the cartridge. In practice, this need not bethe case. In one embodiment, debonding may be initiated with the firstmovement of the cartridge relative to the package. Furthermore, it willbe appreciated that in certain embodiments of the invention, coveringsor attachments may be removed from devices other than hardcopy supplies,when they are removed from their packaging; for example, a layer used toprotect the screen of an item of equipment, such as a mobile phone maybe removed by the act of extracting the equipment from its packaging.Additionally, it will be appreciated that in other embodiments of theinvention, a protection element may be retained relative to an item,such as a printhead, by a mechanical fastener instead of by an adhesive.Such a protection element may, for example, take the form of a plasticcap, arranged to clip into place over the printhead, thus hermeticallysealing the printhead. Other applications and uses of embodiments of theinvention, besides those described herein, are amenable to at least someembodiments. This application is intended to cover any adaptations orvariations of the present invention. Therefore, it is manifestlyintended that this invention be limited only by the claims andequivalents thereof.

1. A package adapted to contain a hard copy consumable, the packagecomprising a protection element, the element being connected to thepackage and having a surface adapted to be removably connected to aportion of the consumable, such that the element is arranged to beremoved from the portion of the consumable by the action of removing theconsumable from the package.
 2. A package according to claim 1, whereinthe element is arranged to protect one or more features associated withthe consumable whilst it is connected to the consumable.
 3. A packageaccording to claim 2, wherein the protection element is adapted to beremovably bonded to one or more surfaces of the consumable.
 4. A packageaccording to claim 2, wherein the protection element is adapted to beremovably retained against or adjacent to a surface of the consumable bya mechanical fastener.
 5. A package according to claim 4, wherein themechanical fastener is a clip or a frangible coupling.
 6. A packageaccording to claim 3, wherein the connector is an integral part of thepackage.
 7. A package according to claim 3, wherein the connector is notan integral part of the package.
 8. A package according to claim 7,wherein the connector is bonded to the package.
 9. A package accordingto claim 7, wherein the connector is connected to the package by amechanical fastener.
 10. A package according to claim 3, wherein theconsumable is a printhead or cartridge for use in an inkjet printer. 11.A package according to claim 10, wherein the connector is adapted tosubstantially cover or protect a nozzle plate associated with theprinthead or cartridge.
 12. A package according to claim 11, wherein theconnector is a tape.
 13. A package according to claim 12, wherein thetape made from a plastic material or rubber material such as a PVC orPET based material.
 14. A hard copy consumable kit comprising a hardcopy consumable a housing arranged to store the consumable, and aprotective tape bonded at one end to the housing and at another end to asurface of the consumable, the tape being arranged to be removed fromthe a surface of the consumable by the action of removing the consumablefrom the package.
 15. A method of packaging a hard copy consumable,comprising the steps of: locating the consumable adjacent packagingmaterial; connecting the consumable to the packaging material with aconnector, the connecting step having a sub-step of removably connectinga first portion of the connector to a portion of the consumable, suchthat the connector is arranged to be removed from the portion of theconsumable by the action of removing the consumable from the packaging.16. A method according to claim 15, wherein the step of connecting theconnector to the surface of the consumable has the effect of protectingpart of the consumable.
 17. A method according to claim 15, wherein thestep of connecting the first portion of the connector to the surface ofthe consumable.
 18. A method according to claim 15, further comprisingthe step of bonding or otherwise fixing a second portion of theconnector to the package.
 19. A method according to claim 15, whereinthe connecting step is carried out before the locating step.
 20. Amethod according to claim 15, Wherein the consumable is a printhead orcartridge and the sub-step of removably connecting a first portion ofthe connector to a portion of the consumable is arranged tosubstantially cover or protect a nozzle plate associated with theprinthead or cartridge.
 21. A method of making a package adapted topackage a hard copy consumable, comprising the steps of: creating aconnector, the connector being connected to, or forming part of thepackage and being adapted to be removably connected to a portion of theconsumable, such that when the connector is connected to the consumable,it protects at least a portion of the consumable, and when theconsumable is removed from the packaging, the connector is adapted to beremoved from the portion of the consumable.
 22. A package adapted tocontain for a retail item, the package comprising a protection element,the element being connected to the package and having a surface adaptedto be removably connected to a portion of the item, such that theelement is arranged to be removed from the portion of the item by theaction of removing the item from the package.